Investing & Retiring

One day you appear to be on track for retirement, and the next day the stock market crashes. You were on track for a comfortable retirement at age 67 – or before, with a little luck. Now you may have to work into your 70s before you can afford to retire.
Don’t let

Are you planning to retire within the next 10 to 15 years?If so, are you ready to take retirement preparedness to the next level?
Retirement is no longer an abstract concept when you reach your 50s. It’s important to take a closer look at your financial plans now, while you have time to make any

How would you like to retire early? Millennials certainly like the idea, according to a recent survey from Bankrate.com. Millennials identified the perfect retirement age as 61 – a full six years before their full retirement age (FRA) as defined by Social Security and one year before they can even claim reduced Social Security

Are you familiar with the 4% rule and how it relates to retirement? Let’s find out. Choose one of the options below.
The 4% rule refers to…
a) The average amount of your retirement time you’ll spend looking for something you misplaced.
b) The average annual amount of time you’ll spend getting medical care.
c)

By Sandra Parsons
While Cardi B is topping the charts, “Card Cracking” is ruining some music fans’ lives. Rapper Young Ash and five others were recently indicted for running a card cracking ring that recruited accomplices through her Snapchat channel. Learn how card cracking works and how you can avoid falling victim to

Congratulations! You’re the proud parent of a newborn bundle of joy. Many things are swirling through your head right now, especially if this is your first child.
Acquiring a Social Security Number (SSN) for your child is probably not near the top of your priority list, and it probably shouldn’t be – but don’t let

If you are one of the fortunate few who have a defined benefit retirement plan, you have more predictability in your retirement income than most. You can calculate your combined pension benefits and any Social Security benefits that you have earned and have a clear idea of your annual income throughout retirement – assuming you

You’re in a cash-flow crunch again. An important bill is due, and you’ve earned the money to pay that bill – but it’s not payday yet. You’re on a two-week pay cycle and have to wait for another week or so before your money is available.
What are your options? Ask a friend or relative

Did you realize that not all financial advisors are obligated to act in your best interest? Financial professionals are obligated to offer products and advice that are suitable for your needs, but not all of them are obligated to offer the best advice possible.
Two standards govern financial advisors – the fiduciary standard and the

How much longer would you have to work beyond your full retirement age to equal an additional 1% retirement savings over the thirty years prior to your retirement? You might expect to work an extra year or two – but according to a recent study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), you

Retirement has finally arrived. You’re ready to start drawing on your retirement income sources. Enjoy this new phase of your life.
Unfortunately, you haven’t been able to retire from taxes – and your taxes will enter a new phase as well. You don’t have an employer to hold out taxes on your salary anymore. You’re

Do you have enough cash to handle an unexpected emergency expense? According to a new survey from Bankrate.com, a significant number of Americans don’t have an emergency savings fund – and don’t see the lack of one as a problem.
Bankrate found that almost one in four respondents has no emergency fund at all, and

How Low Can It Go? According to economic theory, low unemployment will lead to rising wages as employers compete for the small pool of qualified workers. Unemployment in America hit a historically low 3.8% in May 2018. Aside from a one-month dip to 3.8% in April 2000, the unemployment rate hasn’t been 3.8% or below

Prefer using debit cards over credit cards, but miss earning rewards? Some debit cards offer cash-back rewards – either as a straight points-based redemption program or as a perks-based program directed at purchases with specific merchants. You may have debit card cash-back benefits through a perks-based program and not even realize it.
Cardlytics is

Do you plan to relocate when you retire? If so, where would you like to go?
It’s easy to rattle off a favorite vacation destination as your preferred retirement location, but it’s far different when you are visiting a location instead of living there. Try keeping an open mind and evaluating multiple retirement locations and

Your kids are growing up fast. Soon, it will be time to have … the talk.
No, not that one. We’re referring to the talk about responsible use of credit. If you don’t drive home the importance of good credit practices while your children are young, they’re more likely to learn about credit the hard

Most people say they plan for retirement, but they are really planning for financial independence. The day you achieve financial independence is a great day – you have accumulated enough wealth to not have to work again, and will be able to retire whenever you choose. (We use the word “day” symbolically; as a practical

Does your IRA or 401(k) contain mostly actively managed funds or index funds? Do you know the difference between those two funds? Do you even know what’s in your IRA or 401(k) at all? If any of those three questions give you pause, it’s probably time to review your retirement account and think about whether

Do you have a financial plan? A real, written plan with goals, targets, and timelines, not just “I plan to stay out of debt this year”? If you have no such plan, you have plenty of company.
According to Charles Schwab, only 25% of Americans have a written financial plan. The good news: Schwab’s 2018

By Eric Olsen, Executive Director HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm
Affordable transportation is often a concern for senior citizens. Some seniors go without basics to make car payments they can’t afford for a car with little or no equity. Others need affordable replacement transportation but don’t have the income to finance a car. What are

Let’s say you’re tempted to make a withdrawal from your 401(k) plan to pay off some debts. You can always catch up by paying that money back into your retirement savings later, right? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Don’t rob your future to pay for your past! Watch Bankrate.com Senior VP and Chief Analyst

Affordable Housing? What Affordable Housing? Affordable housing is increasingly hard to find in today’s market. According to data from Trulia, America’s inventory of starter homes has decreased by almost half compared to six years ago while prices rose by almost 58%.
As consumers recovered from the housing crisis and Great Recession, more people became financially

Father’s Day is coming up on June 17th. What can you get Dad to celebrate his special day without loading up the credit cards? Sometimes simpler gifts are the best. Simpler gifts may also be your only option if you are young and short on cash, or if your credit is not up to scratch

Father’s Day will be here soon. Have you picked up anything for Dad yet?
You probably will, if statistics count for anything. In 2017, spending on Father’s Day will account for an estimated $15.5 billion in sales, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). That’s a pretty impressive number – not in the league with

It takes solid planning and fiscal discipline during your working years to enjoy a financially comfortable retirement. But how can you properly plan if you don’t really understand how to manage your money to maximize retirement benefits? Even if you pay a financial advisor to assist, in the end, the decisions are still yours to

You’ve made some life decisions that you’ve regretted, and some of those decisions surely involve money. What sort of money mistakes have you made?
Don’t be shy about admitting your financial mistakes. According to the latest version of Finder.com’s annual America’s Biggest Money Mistakes survey, you have 192 million fellow Americans to keep you company.

How do you plan to fund your children’s education? According to the 2017 Report from Sallie Mae, How America Pays for College, you are probably counting on scholarships and grants.
Sallie Mae finds that reliance on scholarships/grants is the highest in a decade, while college savings is on the decline. Savings covers less than one-quarter

How’s your retirement plan holding up? If you are a woman, you’re probably having more difficulty with retirement plans than your male counterparts.
Despite advances, women still face lower average salaries – 82% of the average man’s salary, according to the Pew Research Center. Fewer working years on average, often due to time off for

Are you counting on Social Security for most of your retirement funds – and if so, how comfortable are you that the funds will be there at retirement? According to the recent Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers, you probably aren’t comfortable at all.
A surprising 76% of survey respondents are concerned that Social Security won’t

Are you planning to work in retirement? If so, is it because you need money? The recent American Working Conditions Survey (AWCS) from the Rand Corporation think tank suggests another reason – you want to be there.
A Rand brief on the AWCS survey compared working conditions and expectations of older workers (age 50+) to